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PENNINGTONS:    PIONEERS  ' 
OF  EARLY  ARIZONA 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


THE  PENNINGTONS 

PIONEERS  OF  EARLY  ARIZONA 


A  HISTORICAL  SKETCH 
BY 

ROBERT  H.  FORBES 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE 
ARIZONA  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  AND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

1919 


/Oif 


Larcena   Pexxingtox    (Mks.   \\m.   F.   Scott),   about    1872. 


THE^ENNINGTONS 


PIONEERS  OF  EARLY  ARIZONA 


A  HISTORICAL  SKETCH 
BY 

ROBERT  H.^ORBE^^ 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE 
ARIZONA  ARCHAEOLOGICAL   AND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

1919 


Copyright,  1919,  by 
Arizona  Archaeological  and  Historical  Socieiy 


PRESS  OF 

THE  NEW  ERA  PRINTING  COMPANY 

LANCASTER,  PA. 


6  I  I 


Fl'-^ 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Frontispiece:  Larcena  Pennington  (Mrs.  William  F.  Scott),  about 
1872. 

1.  Old  Fort  Buchanan,  December  7,  1914. 

2.  The  Pennington  home  on  the  Santa  Cruz  in  1861 ;  a  stone  house 

loop-holed  for  defense. 

3.  The  old  Apache  trail,  east  of  Helvetia,  Arizona. 

4.  A  scene  in  Tubac   (1915),  once  the  principal  town  in  Arizona. 

5.  Jane  Pennington   (Mrs.  William  Crumpton),  about  1885. 

6.  The  ruins  of  the  Sopori  ranch  house,  built  on  high  ground,  and 

looped-holed   for   defense. 

7.  The  Canoa,  an  important  station  in  early  days,  and  the  scene 

of  many  tragedies. 

8.  The   Sopori  cemetery  showing  the   graves  of  James   and   Ann 

Pennington. 

9.  Tumacacori  Mission  from  the  Southwest,  1915- 

MAPS 

1.  Map  of  New  Mexico  and  Arizona,    1858,  showing  old  wagon 

routes.     Compiled  from  maps  of  the  War  Department,  and 
other  sources. 

2.  The  Ferguson  map  of  Tucson,  1862,  showing  original  Spanish 

names   of  streets.     Arroyo  Street  is   the  original   name   of 
Pennington  Street. 

3.  The   Foreman  map  of  Tucson,   1872,  showing  American  street 

names. 

4.  Sketch  map  of  old   Fort  Crittenden,  with  localities  named  by 

John  H.  Cady,  once  a  soldier  at  Crittenden. 


Ill 


293404 


THE    PENNINGTONS 


About  the  year  1832  two  of  the  common  people, 
Elias  Green  Pennington  of  South  Carolina  and 
Julia  Ann  Hood  of  North  Carolina,  young  and  of 
good  courage,  joined  fortunes  for  better  or  worse 
and  turned  their  faces  westward  with  the  tide  of 
emigration  that  followed  in  Boone's  footsteps  across 
the  Appalachian  ranges,  through  the  dense  forests 
of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  to  the  Mississippi. 

The  young  people  made  their  first  home  near 
Nashville,  where  they  engaged  in  pioneer  farming 
for  about  five  years.  But  the  West  again  tempted 
them;  they  loaded  their  household  goods  and  farm- 
ing tools  upon  wagons  drawn  by  slow  moving  oxen, 
and,  with  their  three  young  children,  Jim,  Ellen  and 
Larcena,  started  for  Texas,  whose  independence  had 
recently  been  achieved,  and  whose  vast  extent  and 
unknown  resources  attracted  the  adventurous  spirits 
of  that  day.  After  a  journey  of  many  camp  fires 
the  hopeful  and  vigorous  young  family  settled  on 
new  land  near  Honey  Grove,  Texas,  about  forty 
miles  east  of  Bonham  in  Fannin  County.  Here 
Pennington  remained  about  fifteen  years,  farming 
and  freighting  from  Shreveport  and  Jefferson  to 
Bonham.  The  growing  family  soon  increased  to 
twelve  children,  eight  girls  and  four  boys, — an  ac- 

1 


2  The  Penningtons 

tive,  resourceful,  strong-willed  sort,  no  doubt, — well 
suited  to  the  exigencies  of  frontier  life,  which  in 
Texas  at  that  time  was  not  without  danger  from  the 
Comanches,  and  close  to  the  incidents  of  the  Mexi- 
can War. 

But  as  the  country  became  more  thickly  settled, 
the  growing  number  of  near  neighbors,  wath  their 
fence-jumping  and  crop-destroying  cattle,  annoyed 
Pennington,  who,  like  most  frontiersmen,  wanted 
room,  and  wild  game,  and  freedom  from  the  disad- 
vantages of  too  close  association  with  his  fellows. 
So,  leaving  his  family  behind,  he  cruised  to  the 
West  and  South  in  search  of  still  another  and  more 
secluded  home,  finally  choosing  a  location  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  southwest,  near  Keechi,  not 
far  from  the  Brazos  River.  During  his  absence  the 
mother  died  and  was  buried  at  Honey  Grove,  leav- 
ing the  family,  the  youngest  a  child  in  arms,  in  the 
care  of  the  older  children.  So,  diminished  by  one, 
the  Penningtons,  thirteen  in  number,  again  loaded 
their  wagons  and  restlessly  pushed  on  to  a  newer 
frontier.  Here  they  remained  three  or  four  years 
when  it  was  finally  resolved,  early  in  1857,  to  join 
a  wagon  train  for  Golden  California. 

The  train,  which  was  well  equipped  and  provi- 
sioned, was  commanded  by  one  Sutton,  the  Penning- 
tons having  three  wagons  drawn  by  oxen  and  mules. 
The  road  led  westward  bv  easy  stages  and  without 
misadventure  until  they  encountered  the  flooded  Rio 
Pecos,   which   they   were  obliged  to   ford.      Sturdy 


Pioneers  of  Early  Arizona  3 

Jim,  the  oldest  boy,  and  his  father's  right  hand  man, 
guided  his  oxen  through  the  flood,  swimming  his 
horse  beside  them  and  encouraging  the  leaders  by 
his  speech  as  only  he  knew  how^  until  they  dragged 
the  wagons  through. 

A  number  of  cattle  driven  with  the  train  were 
drowned  at  this  point,  but  the  most  serious  damage 
was  to  the  family  Bible  and  to  the  children's  school 
books,  which  were  injured  by  the  water.  Once 
safely  through,  loads  were  unpacked,  water-soaked 
articles  were  dried,  the  wagons  repacked  and  the 
journey  resumed.  From  the  Pecos  the  route  lay 
through  Paso  del  Norte,  up  the  Rio  Grande  to  Me- 
silla,  through  Cooke's  Canyon  and  westward  across 
rolling  plains  to  the  boundary  of  present-day  Ari- 
zona, into  which  they  passed  through  Doubtful 
Canyon.  From  this  point  they  crossed  the  San 
Simon  Valley,  threaded  the  long  and  dangerous 
x'\pache  Pass,  pushed  on  across  the  Sulphur  Spring 
valley  to  Dragoon  Springs,  crossed  the  San  Pedro, 
probably  south  of  modern  Benson,  and  finally,  in 
June,  1857,  reached  Old  Fort  Buchanan  on  the  So- 
noita,  where  Captain  Ewell  was  then  in  command. 

The  road  over  which  the  little  caravan  passed 
was  a  dangerous  one,  a  guard  always  being  placed 
at  night,  with  a  double  guard  at  Apache  Pass,  of 
sinister  hi.story.  For  fear  of  the  Apaches  little 
hunting  was  done,  but  an  occasional  animal  was 
slaughtered  out  of  the  driven  herd.  The  train  was 
well  supplied  with  bacon,    flour,    dried   fruits   and 


Pioneers  of  Early  Arizona  5 

other  provisions;  and  with  a  small  stock  of  house- 
hold goods  and  farming  tools.  Progress  was  slow. 
Fifteen  miles  was  a  good  day's  journey,  the  distance 
travelled  being  governed  by  the  watering  places 
along  the  road. 

The  Arizona  of  1857  was  a  wilderness  almost  un- 
known to  Americans  except  along  overland  lines  of 
travel.  There  were  a  few  squalid  Mexican  settle- 
ments, and  the  Missions  of  the  Santa  Cruz  valley; 
beaver  hunters  from  the  north  and  east  had  crossed 
it;  and  following  the  Gadsden  purchase  the  gov- 
ernment began  the  establishment  of  military  posts 
within  the  newly  acquired  territory,  at  that  time  at- 
tached to  Dona  Ana  County,  New  Mexico.  Almost 
all  business  related  in  some  way  to  the  United  States 
army.  Contracts  for  wild  hay  were  let  by  the  gov- 
ernment to  supply  the  cavalry,  and  whipsawed  lum- 
ber was  brought  down  from  the  mountains  for  the 
construction  of  military  posts  under  whose  protec- 
tion little  farms  began  to  produce  home  grown  sup- 
plies. Freighting  was  perhaps  the  most  important 
business  of  that  day,  military  supplies,  merchandise 
for  trade,  machinery  for  the  mines,  and  commodi- 
ties of  all  kinds,  were  brought  hundreds  of  miles 
from  East  and  West,  by  means  of  slow  moving  ox 
teams.  There  were  but  few  domestic  cattle  at  this 
time,  although  there  were  considerable  numbers  of 
wild  horses  and  cattle.  These  were  sometimes 
hunted,  and  sometimes  were  captured  by  means  of 
extended  lines  of  horsemen  converging  upon  cor- 


6  The  Penningtons 

rals  arranged  to  receive  them.  Antelope,  deer, 
bear,  and  wild  turkeys  were  numerous,  and  the 
Apaches  regarded  the  whole  of  this  vast  region  as 
their  hunting  ground. 

In  its  general  outlines,  of  course,  the  country  was 
the  same  then  as  now,  but  in  details  it  differed 
greatly.  Everywhere  the  plains  were  grass  covered 
to  an  extent  unknown  at  the  present  time,  the  ranges 
being  now  as  a  rule  over-grazed.  The  valley  bot- 
toms were  covered  by  a  dense  growth  of  perennial 
Sacaton  grass,  oftentimes  as  high  as  the  head  of  a 
horseman  and  so  thick  and  tall  that  cattle,  horses 
and  men  were  easily  concealed  by  it.  Indeed,  in 
early  days  it  was  necessary  to  drive  cattle  out  upon 
the  mesas  at  the  time  of  the  rodeos,  where  they 
could  be  seen  and  handled.  The  uplands  were  well 
covered  with  a  variety  of  nutritious  grasses,  such  as 
the  perennial  black  grama,  and  the  many  annuals 
that  spring  into  growth  during  the  summer  rainy 
season.  The  abundant  vegetation,  both  on  high- 
lands and  in  valley  bottoms,  restrained  the  flood 
waters  resulting  from  the  torrential  storms  of  the 
region,  so  that  there  was  no  erosion  in  valley  bot- 
toms. Instead,  the  rainfall  soaked  into  the  soil  and 
made  grass.  Sloughs  and  marshy  places  were 
common  along  the  San  Simon,  the  San  Pedro,  the 
Santa  Cruz,  and  other  streams,  and  even  beaver 
were  abundant  in  places  where  it  would  now  be  im- 
possible for  them  to  li\'e.  The  abundant  grass 
made  range  fires  common,  these  often  being  set  by 
the  Indians  to  drive  game. 


Pioneers  of  Early  Arizona  7 

In  comj^arison  with  modern  Arizona,  shorn  of  its 
grass  by  cattle  and  with  its  bare  valley  bottoms  torn 
open  by  erosion,  the  ])rimitive  wilderness  of  sixty 
years  ago  was  verdure  clad  and  beautiful,  and 
doubtless  attractive  to  the  adventurous  Americans 
who  entered,  j^rcsumably  under  the  protection  of 
their  government,  just  before  the  Civil  War. 

At  Fort  Buchanan,  the  hardships  of  the  journey 
began  to  tell  upon  our  travelers.  Some  of  the  ani- 
mals ga\'e  out  and  Larcena  Pennington  fell  ill  with 
mountain  fever.  The  family,  with  their  three 
wagons  and  their  cattle,  were  thus  forced  to  drop 
out  of  the  train.  While  waiting  for  the  stricken 
sister  to  recover  the  men  undertook  a  contract  for 
wild  hay  for  the  Fort,  which,  of  course,  was  garri- 
soned by  cavalry.  Laboriously,  with  scythes,  hand 
rakes,  forks  and  wagons  they  completed  their  con- 
tract, but  were  then  obliged  to  wait  weeks  for  their 
pay.  Meantime,  the  Apaches  raided  them  and 
drove  off  their  stock,  leaving  them  in  grim  earnest 
in  the  heart  of  an  unknown  and  dangerous  country. 

Let  us  pause  for  a  moment  to  become  better  ac- 
quainted with  the  members  of  this  hardy  family  at 
the  time  when  adverse  fortune  called  upon  them  to 
face  a  life  of  hardship  and  adventure  most  remark- 
able even  among  the  annals  of  the  pioneers. 

Pennington,  himself,  was  a  South  Carolinian,  of 
Revolutionary  stock,  and  English  descent.  He  was 
an  exceptional  figure — tall,  straight  and  strong, 
weighing  about    190   pounds.      His   features   were 


8  The  Penningtons 

aquiline  and  handsome,  eyes  blue,  full  bearded,  in 
later  years  clean  shaven.  He  was  a  man  of  great 
determination  and  courage  in  the  midst  of  the  dan- 
gers that  surrounded  him,  although,  perhaps  from 
policy,  he  avoided  as  much  as  possible  direct  en- 
counters with  the  Indians  that  overran  the  country. 
He  was  a  good  farmer,  hunted  in  time  of  need  for 
his  family,  and  for  much  of  the  time  kept  wagons 
and  teams  busy  in  the  freighting  business  in  what 
is  now  southern  Arizona.  He  was  affectionate  to 
his  family,  and  by  those  who  knew  him  personally, 
is  described  as  having  been  a  sober  and  very  quiet 
man. 

Jim,  the  oldest  of  the  children,  was  a  tall,  raw- 
boned,  red-faced  young  fellow,  not  so  large  as  his 
father,  quiet  and  hard-working.  He  was  especially 
skillful  with  oxen.  His  friend  Oteno  speaks  of 
seeing  him  unload  logs  from  the  Santa  Rita  moun- 
tains by  sending  the  two  leading  spans  to  the  back 
of  the  load  where  they  pulled  off  the  logs  one  by 
one  while  the  wheel  oxen  held  the  wagon  in  place. 
In  all  this  they  were  guided  mainly  by  the  voice  of 
their  driver. 

Jack,  the  second  boy,  seems  to  have  taken  part  in 
many  enterprises  of  the  time, — freighting,  handling 
cattle,  washing  gold  on  the  Hassayampa.  He  was 
affectionate  and  loyal  to  his  family  and  friends. 
On  one  occasion,  at  the  Cooke's  Canyon  ambuscade 
in  i86i,  when  one  of  his  party  was  wounded  and 
about  to  be  left  to  the  Apaches,  though  only  a  boy 


Pioneers  of  Early  Arizona  9 

of  eighteen,  he  leveled  his  rifle  upon  his  companions 
and  compelled  them  to  rescue  the  wounded  man. 
Green  was  a  tall,  quiet  boy  who  liked  to  be  with  his 
father.  He  seems  to  have  been  especially  loved  by 
his    sisters.      He    also    was    affectionate    and    loyal, 


Mary  Pennington. 


losing  his  life  finally  in  defense  of  his  father's  body 
at  the  time  of  the  ambuscade  on  the  Sonoita.  All 
of  the  men  were  especially  kind  and  chivalrous  to- 
ward the  women  of  their  household,  a  trait  consis- 
tent with  their  southern  origin. 


10  The  Penningtons 

Of  the  daughters,  the  older  took  charge  of  the 
motherless  family.  One  of  them,  Ellen,  taught  the 
younger  children  to  read,  others  helped  the  men 
with  field  work,  sometimes  they  did  sewing  for  the 
officers'  wives  at  the  Fort.  There  were  eight  of 
them  in  all,  vigorous  and  capable,  able  to  ride  and 
handle  firearms,  cheerfully  making  the  best  of  the 
hard  life  they  were  obliged  to  endure. 

Thus  equi])ped  in  experience  and  character  the 
Penningtons,  with  stout  hearts,  set  about  making  a 
home  and  a  living  for  themselves  in  the  midst  of  an 
Indian  infested  wilderness.  A  ditch  was  taken  out 
of  the  Sonoita  below  Buchanan,  and  a  small  field  of 
corn,  pumpkins,  squashes,  beans  and  vegetables  was 
planted.  The  money  for  the  hay  contract  came, 
more  animals  were  purchased  and  the  family  moved 
o\'er  to  the  Santa  Cruz,  where  we  hear  of  them  in 
the  old  Gandara  house  at  Calabasas  in  September, 
1859;  at  the  stone  house  near  the  Mexican  line  in 
i860;  on  the  Sonoita  a  few  miles  below  Buchanan 
in  the  same  year;  at  the  stone  house  again  and  at 
the  Mowry  mine  in  1861  and  1862.  They  moved 
often,  from  restlessness,  from  fear  of  the  Indians 
and  because  of  the  slender  advantages  to  be  gained 
here  and  there  from  a  change. 

At  first  they  escaped  personal  injury,  although 
the  Apaches  were  seen  from  time  to  time,  and  their 
fields  were  occasionally  robbed  of  green  corn  and 
vegetables.  Indeed,  the  Indians  themselves  stated 
subsequently,  at  a  time  of  truce,  that  they  spared 


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12  The  Penningtons 

the  Penningtons  for  a  time  because  the}^  could  usu- 
ally steal  of  them  the  provisions  the}^  needed  on 
their  way  to  and  from  Mexico. 

Meanwhile,  in  December,  1858,  Larcena  Pen- 
nington married  John  Hempstead  Page,  in  Tucson, 
which  at  that  time  was  a  little  adobe  town  of  a  few 
hundred  souls,  mostly  Mexicans.  Mr.  Page  was 
then  engaged,  in  partnership  with  Captain  Rey- 
nolds, in  whip-sawing  j^ine  lumber  in  Madera  Can- 
yon in  the  Santa  Ritas,  and  in  hauling  it  to  Tucson 
— a  perilous  but  paying  business  at  a  time  when  the 
U.  S.  quartermaster  paid  25  cents  a  foot  for  boards. 
And  so  it  happened  that,  in  March,  i860,  Mrs.  Page, 
desiring  to  escape  the  chills  and  fcxxr  that  then  pre- 
vailed in  Tucson,  ])ersuadcd  her  husband  to  take 
her  with  him  for  the  next  load  of  lumber.  It  was 
doubtless  a  jolly  party — Page,  his  wife,  the  little 
Mexican  girl,  Mercedes,  whom  Mrs.  Page  was  teach- 
ing to  read,  and  Reynolds,  that  tra\'elled  the  old 
road  under  the  big  mesquites,  up  the  Santa  Cruz  to 
the  Canoa,  then  turned  eastward  and  drew  near  to 
the  mouth  of  the  canyon  behind  their  slow  moving 
oxen. 

Self-reliant  and  careless,  after  the  manner  of  that 
day,  they  gave  little  thought  to  danger  or  to  the 
party  of  five  Apaches  that  were  c\-en  then  watching 
them  from  the  hills  flanking  the  mouth  of  the  can- 
yon. They  pitched  their  tent  that  night  beside  the 
running  stream  flowing  from  the  canyon  and  in- 
stalled a  few  items  of  bedding  and  furniture  they 


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14  The  Penningtons 

had  brought  along.  This  camp  was  not  at  the  Big 
Rock  where  still  stand  the  ruins  of  a  stone  house 
and  corral,  but  was  about  two  miles  below.  The 
night  passed  without  incident  and  breakfast  was 
disposed  of  early  next  morning.  Reynolds  took  his 
gun  and  went  after  game,  while  Page,  about  ten 
o'clock  rode  up  the  canyon  to  see  about  his  next  load 
of  lumber. 

Mrs.  Page  and  little  Mercedes  were  thus  left 
alone,  exposed  to  the  Indians,  who  had  been  watch- 
ing them  since  the  day  before.  Soon  after  her  hus- 
band's departure,  Mrs.  Page  was  resting  in  her 
rocker  in  the  tent,  when  her  little  dog  began  to  bark. 
Then  a  scream  from  the  child  outside,  who  had 
been  gathering  bright  colored  oakballs,  warned  her 
of  danger.  The  little  girl  was  quickly  caught  by 
the  approaching  Indians  and,  immediately,  Mrs. 
Page  saw  them  entering  the  doorway.  She  sprang 
to  the  bed  and  seized  a  pistol  that  lay  under  the 
turned-up  covers,  but  the  weapon  was  wrested  from 
her  before  she  could  shoot.  She  tried  to  run  but 
was  stopped.  One  of  the  Indians  spoke  a  little 
Spanish,  and  by  words  and  signs  told  her  (what  was 
not  true)  that  they  had  just  killed  Mr.  Page  as  he 
drank  at  a  spring,  and  that  the  saddle  they  carried 
was  his.  Mrs.  Page  began  to  scream  for  help,  but 
one  of  the  Apaches  put  his  lance  to  her  breast  and 
threatened  to  kill  her  if  she  did  not  stop.  The  In- 
dians then  proceeded  to  loot  the  camp,  cutting  open 
sacks  of  flour,  scattering  the  provisions  and  making 


Pioneers  of  Early  Arizona  15 

ready  to  go  with  whatever  they  could  take  away. 
The  camp  was  quickly  spoiled,  and  the  Apaches, 
with  their  prisoners  and  plunder,  began  their  fliglit. 
A  little  way  from  the  ruined  camp  they  stopped  to 
rip  open  a  feather  bed  they  had  been  trying  to  carry. 
Until  this  time  Mrs.  Page  had  remained  unterrified, 
feeling  a  certain  contempt  for  her  savage  captors; 
but  when  she  saw  her  precious  feather  bed  thus  cru- 
elly assailed,  she  seemed  to  realize  fully  her  danger 
and  screamed  again,  but  her  captors  once  more 
stopped  her  by  threatening  her  with  their  lances; 
and  the  party  started  along  a  well  beaten  trail  that 
led  along  the  side  of  the  mountain,  almost  north. 

The  five  Indians  in  the  party  were  young  with  one 
exception — an  older  man  who  spoke  Spanish.  They 
were  armed  only  with  bows  and  arrows,  and  lances. 
The  prisoners  were  not  molested  except  when  their 
captors,  evidently  in  high  glee  at  their  success,  pre- 
tended to  ambush  them  from  behind  trees  or  play- 
fully pointed  the  captured  pistol  at  them.  One  of 
the  Apaches  melted  snow  in  his  hands  for  them  to 
drink.  Mrs.  Page  was  pushed  or  pulled  up  steep 
places  in  the  trail  and  Mercedes  was  carried  pick-a- 
back. Their  hats  were  restored  to  them  from  the 
plunder  and  fair  progress  was  made,  the  savages 
seeking  safety  in  one  of  their  camps  on  the  San 
Pedro.  One  of  the  Apaches,  an  ugly  black  fellow, 
was  pointed  out  to  Mrs.  Page  as  her  future  owner 
and  this  may  have  accounted  for  the  mercy  shown. 

The  journey  continued  to  the  northeast  and  north 


16  The  Penningtons 

through  hilly  country.  Mrs.  Page  began,  secretly, 
to  tear  off  bits  of  her  dress  and  bend  twigs  along  the 
trail  to  guide  a  following  party.  She  told  the  little 
girl  to  do  this  also,  but  the  Apaches  stopped  them 
and  forbade  them  to  speak  to  each  other  again. 

In  this  fashion  they  travelled  all  day,  one  of  the 
party  staying  behind  to  warn  them  of  pursuit.  Mrs. 
Page  talked  a  little  in  Spanish  with  her  captors. 
The  older  man  said  that  this  country  was  once  all 
theirs,  but  that  now  many  of  their  people  had  been 
killed  by  the  whites — "pong,  pong,  pong."  Mrs. 
Page  answered  as  best  she  could,  keeping  in  good 
courage  and  hoping  for  rescue  by  the  j^arty  she 
knew  must  soon  follow. 

Just  before  sunset  the  Apache  travelling  behind 
to  warn  the  party  of  pursuit,  ran  up  saying  that  the 
Americans  were  coming.  The  pace  quickened,  but 
Mrs.  Page,  exhausted  with  the  day's  travel,  could 
not  go  faster.  As  they  went  up  a  narrow  ridge 
with  a  steep  slope  on  one  side,  they  made  her  take 
off  her  spencer  and  heavy  skirt,  again  telling  her 
(she  thought  by  way  of  warning)  that  the  Ameri- 
cans had  killed  many  of  their  people.  They  mo- 
tioned her  to  go  on  ;  then  as  she  turned  and  started 
she  felt  a  lance  in  her  back  and  sprang  forward  and 
fell  down  the  steep  side  of  the  hill.  The  Apaches 
followed,  thrusting  at  her  with  lances  and  striking 
her  with  rocks,  until  she  lodged  against  a  big  pine 
tree  and  one  of  the  Indians  stunned  her  with  a 
stone.      The   savages,   thinking   her  dead,   dragged 


-a 

V 


to 


O 


H 


Oh 

Q 

J 

o 

w 

X 


18  The  Penningtons 

Jier  behind  a  tree  where  she  might  not  be  seen  from 
the  trail,  and  taking  her  shoes  left  her  in  a  bank  of 
snow.     Reviving  shortly  after,  she  heard  the  Ameri- 
cans on   the  trail  above,  and  her  husband's  voice, 
referring  to  the  trail,  saying,   "  Here  it  is,  boys." 
She  tried  to  move  and  speak,  but  was  too  weak  to 
make   them   hear,    and   they   passed   on,   being   de- 
ceived by  the  fact  that  one  of  the  Apaches  had  just 
put  on   her  shoes.      They   followed  this   false  trail 
beyond  the  Catalina  Mountains,  where  it  was  lost, 
and  the  party  went  to  Tucson  to  equip  a  second,  and, 
finally,  a  third  expedition  to  rescue  the  prisoners. 
When  her  husband's  party  had  passed  on,  Mrs.  Page 
again  lost  consciousness   and  lay  at  the  pine  tree, 
she  thinks,  about  three  days.      Her  wounds,  fortu- 
nately,  w^ere  cooled  by  the  snow  and,   finally,  she 
again  revived. 

To  understand  the  heroic  and  almost  unbelievable 
effort  for  life  now  made  by  this  young  woman  of 
twenty-three,  we  must  remember  that  she  was  in  the 
hills  just  east  of  the  present  site  of  Helvetia;  bruised 
with  stones  and  cut  with  sixteen  lance  wounds  in  her 
back  and  arms,  without  shoes,  water  or  food,  almost 
without  clothes,  and  without  a  beaten  pathway,  for 
she  feared  to  follow  back  along  the   Indian  trail. 
There  is  no  doubt  of  the  locality  for  she  clearly  re- 
membered that,  after  travelling  northeast  and  north 
all  day,  just  before  she  was  attacked,  she  saw  down 
in  the  plain  toward  the  setting  sun,  a  small  sharp- 
pointed  hill.     There  is  but  one  such  landmark  on 


Pioneers  of  Early  Arizona  19 

the  route  and  distance  travelled,  and  that  is  Huer- 
fano Hill,  about  three  miles  west  of  Helvetia.  She 
must,  therefore,  haxe  fallen  at  a  ])()int  twelve  or 
fifteen  miles  from  the  camp  left  tliat  morning  and 
she  remembered  that  Page  afterwards  told  her  it 
was  fifteen  miles. 

Gathering  her  strength  for  the  effort,  she  at- 
tended to  her  wounds  as  best  she  could,  ate  a  little 
snow  to  slake  her  thirst,  then  crawled  down  the 
slope  to  level  ground  and  slept.  Awaking  at  sun- 
rise she  knew  the  directions  back  to  camp,  since  it 
was  sunset  when  she  was  struck  down.  Being  weak 
from  loss  of  blood,  and  without  shoes,  she  was  soon 
unable  to  stand;  but  day  by  day  she  crept  on,  partly 
supporting  herself  on  her  hands  and  subsisting  on 
seeds,  herbage  and  wild  onions,  with  snow  water  to 
drink.  Night  by  night  (unable  to  lie  on  her  back 
because  of  her  wounds)  she  crouched  upon  her 
knees  and  arms  on  the  ground  and  dreamed  of 
food;  but  when  in  her  sleep  she  reached  out  for  the 
pot  of  beans  before  her,  she  awoke  to  find  her  hands 
clutching  only  gravel.  Once  she  came  to  a  bear's 
nest  and  longed  to  lie  in  the  mass  of  soft  grass  and 
leaves,  but  dared  not  and  crept  away.  And  so  her 
terrible  journey  continued  for  about  ten  days.  Her 
feet  became  filled  with  small  stones;  her  bare 
shoulders  were  blistered  with  the  hot  sun  ;  her  head 
was  a  mass  of  clotted  blood ;  and  yet  she  kept  on — 
desperately,  indomitably  on,  to  the  southward. 
Then  at  last  she  came  to  a  point  on  a  high  ridge 


20  The  Penningtons 

overlooking  the  road  that  led  into  Madera  Canyon 
and  saw  below  her  some  men  with  an  ox  team  near 
the  camp  from  which  she  had  been  taken.  She 
could  hear  their  voices  plainly,  and  the  sound  of 
blows  struck  on  their  wagon  tires.  She  tied  her 
petticoat  to  a  stick  and  waved  it  and  screamed,  but 
could  not  make  them  hear,  and  they  passed  on. 
Again  she  resumed  her  fearful  journey  and  in  two 
days  more  reached  the  teamster's  camp,  where  she 
found  fire  still  smouldering  in  a  log  by  the  road- 
side. Then  she  carried  a  stick  on  fire  at  one  end 
to  her  husband's  ruined  camp  nearby,  where  she 
scraped  up  some  flour  and  some  coffee  yet  remain- 
ing on  the  ground.  Tearing  a  square  piece  from 
her  clothing  and  putting  the  flour  on  it,  she  went 
down  to  the  stream  nearby  and  mixed  a  little  pat  of 
dough  and  baked  it  at  her  fire.  After  she  had 
eaten  the  bread  and  some  of  the  coffee,  and  had 
bathed  her  wounds,  she  was  refreshed  and  slept  the 
night  there.  Next  morning  she  started  up  the  road 
to  the  sawyers'  camp,  probably  the  one  at  the  Big 
Rock.  As  she  drew  near  she  was  seen,  but  not  at 
first  recognized.  With  clotted  hair  and  gaping 
wounds,  nearly  naked,  emaciated  and  sunburned, 
she  was  at  first  mistaken  for  an  unfortunate  outcast 
squaw  and  the  men  ran  for  their  guns.  She  called 
to  them  that  she  was  Mrs.  Page  and  was  finally  rec- 
ognized; but  one.  Smith,  declared  that  she  was  a 
spirit,  unable  to  believe  that  she  could  return  alive 
after  more  than  two  weeks  of  such  hardship.      One 


Pioneers  of  Early  Arizona  21 

of  the  men  then  carried  lier  into  the  cam};,  where 
she  was  fed  and  washed  and  clothed  with  rough  but 
sympathizing  care,  and  a  courier  sent  to  Tucson  for 
a  doctor. 

llie  messenger  reached  Tucson  just  as  Mr.  Page 
was  about  to  start  on  a  third  attempt  to  find  liis  wife. 
He  had  followed  the  trail  from  the  looted  camp 
through  the  Rincons  to  a  ]:)oint  bcj-ond  tiie  Cata- 
linas.  Then  he  returned  and  went  out  again;  and 
again  returned  for  still  another  party.  These  ex- 
jjcditions  must  ha\e  taken  a  number  of  days  and 
roughly  confirm  the  statement  that  it  was  sixteen 
days  from  the  time  Mrs.  Page  was  captured  until 
her  return.  After  two  days  she  was  taken  to  Tuc- 
son, where  she  fully  recovered.  The  little  girl, 
Mercedes,  captured  with  her,  was  exchanged  later 
by  Captain  Ewell  for  certain  of  his  Apache  pris- 
oners. She  grew  to  womanhood  and  became  the 
wife  of  Charles  A.  Shibell,  well  known  as  a  j)ioneer, 
and  for  many  years  recorder  of  Pima  County. 

But  the  desperate  and  almost  incredible  adven- 
ture of  Mrs.  Page  was  only  a  warning  to  the  Pen- 
ningtons  of  disasters  to  come — little  heeded,  how- 
ever, in  those  days  when  danger  was  the  atmosphere 
to  which  men  and  women  were  too  well  accustomed. 
For  ten  years,  until  the  remnants  of  the  broken 
family  went  back  to  Texas,  the  traditions  of  the 
Sonoita  and  the  Santa  Cruz  are  full  of  their  per- 
sonalities and  adventures.  Only  a  year  later,  in 
March  or  April,  1861,  Mr.  Page  was  ambushed  and 


22  The  Penningtons 

killed  by  Apaches  north  of  Tucson  while  conducting 
a  load  of  goods  to  old  Camp  Grant.  He  was  buried 
where  he  fell,  at  the  top  of  the  hill  beyond  Sama- 
niego's  ranch,  on  the  old  road;  and  all  that  Mrs. 
Page  ever  saw  of  him  was  his  handkerchief,  his 
purse  and  a  lock  of  his  hair.  Her  daughter,  Mary, 
was  born  in  September  of  that  year,  and  shortly 
afterward  she  rejoined  her  father's  family  at  the 
Stone  House  on  the  Santa  Cruz.  This  location  was 
a  most  dangerous  one,  however,  although  the  Pen- 
ningtons were  strangely  spared  by  the  Apaches 
themselves  while  they  lived  here.  The  Indians 
were  at  their  worst  during  the  early  sixties,  the 
country  being  virtually  unprotected  by  the  Federal 
government  at  a  time  when  the  energies  of  that 
government  were  engrossed  by  the  Civil  War. 

On  one  occasion,  about  this  time,  Mrs.  Page  and 
her  baby  girl  fled  with  others  to  the  Mowry  Mine, 
which  was  fortified  and  offered  protection  from  the 
Apaches.  But  smallpox  broke  out  among  the  refu- 
gees, Mrs.  Page  and  her  baby  being  among  those 
attacked.  Mowry  nursed  his  smallpox  patients  as 
best  he  knew  how,  but  nearly  starved  them  to  death 
on  a  scanty  diet  of  flour  and  water,  believing  that 
"no  grease"  should  be  fed  to  those  ill  of  this  dis- 
ease. Most  of  the  patients,  however,  recovered 
from  both  the  disease  and  the  treatment.  Not  long 
after,  in  June,  1862,  Mowry  was  arrested  by  Fed- 
eral authorities,  his  mine  was  confiscated,  and  he 
was  sent  to  Fort  Yuma  as  a  Rebel  sympathizer. 


Pioneers  of  Early  Arizona  23 

We  now  hear  of  the  Penningtons,  in  1862  and 
1863,  at  the  old  Gandara  liouse  at  Calabasas. 
Next,  they  are  in  Tucson  in  1863  ;  in  Tubac  in  1864; 
at  the  Sopori  Ranch  from  1866  to  1868;  at  Tubac 
again  in  1868;  and.  at  Fort  Crittenden  in  1869. 
This  restless,  almost  nomadic,  life  was  characteristic 
of  the  time  and  reminds  us  of  the  story  of  Kirkland, 
another  pioneer  of  that  day,  of  whom  it  was  said 
that  after  he  had  lived  a  short  time  in  one  place  his 
chickens  would  come  up  and  suggest  another  move 
by  turning  over  on  their  backs  to  have  their  legs 
tied ! 

But  before  going  further  with  the  personal  nar- 
rative in  which  we  are  concerned,  let  us  jjause  to 
take  note  of  the  conditions  that  confronted  the  pio- 
neers from  i860  to  1870. 

Of  government  there  was  little,  except  what  was 
enforced  by  each  man  for  himself.  Until  Arizona 
became  a  separate  territory  in  1863,  the  Gadsden 
Purchase  was  attached  to  Bona  Ana  County,  New 
Mexico,  with  the  only  available  court  of  justice  at 
Mesilla.  Sometimes  criminals  were  turned  over  to 
the  army  officers  at  the  posts,  but  more  frequently 
they  were  summarily  dealt  witJi. 

Gradually,  under  the  new  Territorial  govern- 
ment, courts  were  established  in  the  larger  towns; 
but  the  annals  of  the  time  are  commonplace  with 
bloodshed  and  violence,  and  murderous  crimes 
which  sometimes  met  with  swift  reprisal,  but  which 
too  often  remained  unpunished. 


24  The  Penningtons 

Over  all  this  thinly  settled  region  hung  the 
Apache  scourge.  During  this  whole  decade  these 
Indians  })lundered  and  murdered  almost  at  will. 
For  a  time,  in  1 86 1  and  1862,  even  the  United 
States  troops  were  withdrawn  and  the  Apaches,  be- 
lieving this  to  be  from  fear  of  themselves,  became 
bolder  and  more  murderous  than  before.  Truces 
with  the  goxernment,  in  which  good  behavior  was 
promised  in  return  for  rations,  were  always  broken; 
and  the  unsettled  policy  toward  the  Indians  accom- 
plished nothing  toward  their  reformation  or  control. 
The  settlers  in  fact  had  a  \'ery  poor  opinion  of  the 
military  protection  which  was  afforded  them  at  this 
time  and  for  the  most  i)art  took  the  matter  into  their 
own  hands.  With  what  determination  they  did 
this  is  attested  by  the  annals  of  such  men  as  Pete 
Kitchen  and  William  Rhoades,  King  Woolsey,  Bill 
Oury,  and  many  t)thers  like  them,  who  held  this 
country  at  a  time  when  it  was  practically  abandoned 
by  its  own  government. 

The  commerce  of  southern  Arizona  at  this  time 
related  mainly  to  mining  enterprises  and  to  the 
troops.  Mining  macliinery,  supplies  for  military 
posts  and  manufactured  articles  for  trade  all  had  to 
be  expensively  freighted  from  tlie  nearest  landing 
places  at  Guaymas  and  A\ima,  or  overland  by  way 
of  Texas.  Government  contracts  for  wild  hay  for 
the  posts,  and  for  lumber,  were  an  important  source 
of  revenue  to  ach-enturous  takers.  High  prices 
offered   for   corn   and   other   farm   products  stimu- 


Pioneers  of  Early  Arizona  25 

lated  agricultural  industry  near  the  military  posts; 
and  the  first  herds  of  American  cattle  were  brought 
in  from  Texas  to  make  rations  for  the  presumably 
peaceful  Apaches. 

The  main  route  of  tra\el  at  that  time  was  the 
California  overland  road  which  traversed  southern 
Arizona  from  east  to  west  and  wliich  connected  with 
military  posts,  mining  camps,  and  irrigated  valleys 
throughout  the  region.  Oxen  were  used  at  first  for 
freighting  purposes.  They  were  strong  and  gentle, 
did  not  stray  readily,  and  rec]uired  no  harness, 
which  was  very  expensive  in  those  days.  They 
made  the  best  draught  animals  as  long  as  there  was 
abundant  grass  for  them  along  the  road.  In  time, 
however,  as  the  grass  was  eaten  out,  and  feed  had 
to  be  carried,  niules  and  horses,  which  eat  less,  re- 
placed the  oxen.  Freight  rates  were  7  to  8  cents  a 
pound  from  Yuma  to  Tucson;  and  9  to  10  cents  a 
pound  from  Yuma  to  Calabasas.  From  Tucson  to 
Calabasas  the  rate  was  i  cent,  and  from  Tubac  to 
Tucson  ^  cent  a  jxnnul.  The  U.  S.  quartermas- 
ters paid  2^2  to  T^y>  cents  a  jjound  for  corn;  and  25 
cents  a  foot  for  rough  pine  boards  from  the  Santa 
Rita  mountains. 

Under  such  conditions  and  with  such  incentives, 
the  Penningtons,  like  others  of  their  time,  engaged 
in  whate\'er  afforded  the  best  returns  for  the  time 
being,  moving  frequentl}^  as  convenience  or  interest 
required.  From  the  records  of  the  time  and  from 
the  testimony  of  a  few  yet  living  who  knew  them, 


26  The  Penningtons 

we  gather  a  scant  account  of  their  varied  and  active 
life.  In  December,  1859,  Jim  Pennington  located 
a  homestead  on  the  Santa  Cruz  and  in  1865  testifies, 
"  I  have  lived  upon  the  same  at  all  times  only  such 
as  I  was  compelled  to  leave  on  account  of  Indians 
and  the  unsettled  condition  of  the  country."  In 
August,  1 86 1,  Jack  Pennington  appears  at  Cooke's 
Canyon  in  New  Mexico  in  the  ambush  of  a  wagon 
train  enroute  for  the  Rio  Grande.  In  the  course 
of  the  fracas  one  of  the  party  was  wounded  and 
about  to  be  left  behind,  when  Jack,  who  was  but  a 
boy,  with  his  le\'elled  rifle  compelled  his  companions 
to  place  the  wounded  man  in  a  wagon,  thus  finally 
saving  him.  In  1864  we  again  hear  of  him  wash- 
ing gold  on  the  Hassayampa;  and  finally,  in  1870, 
he  came  back  from  Texas  to  aid  the  broken  family 
to  return  there. 

The  main  occupation  of  the  family  was  freight- 
ing, and  the  Penningtons,  with  their  heavy  wagons 
and  teams  of  twelve  to  fourteen  oxen,  were  much  of 
the  time  on  the  road.  Thus  we  hear  of  them — Jim 
in  a  fight  with  a  small  war  party  that  ambushed  him 
and  captured  his  oxen,  on  his  way  to  the  Patagonia 
mine;  and  on  other  occasions  at  Oatman  Flat  on  the 
Yuma  road.  Much  of  the  time  the  men  were  cut- 
ting lumber  in  Madera  Canyon  in  the  Santa  Ritas 
and  hauling  it  to  Tubac  where  there  was  a  sawmill, 
to  the  Cerro  Colorado  and  other  mines  for  timbers, 
and  to  Tucson.  At  Tucson  for  a  time  they  operated 
a  saw  pit  in  the  street  originally  called  the  Calle  del 


D 


:i  f3 


B 

» 

Or  TJwOiMK 


I 


-*—  t  — 


j 

1 

1     \l 

1 

4 

*  

t 


f- 

Portion  of  Official  Map  of  the  City  of  Tucson,  S.  W. 
Foreman,  Surveyor.  Approved  and  Adopted  June  26,  1872. 
Sidney  R.  DeLong,  Mayor.  William  J.  Osborn,  Recorder. 
Traced  from  Original  Map  Sept.  i,  1915,  by  A.  L.  Enger. 


Pioneers  of  Early  Arizona  29 

Arroyo.  As  the  name  signifies,  this  street  was,  at 
least  partly,  in  an  arroyo  or  dry  water  course  that 
lay  immediately  to  the  south  of  the  old  walled  town. 
This  depression,  or  arroyo,  was  conveniently  util- 
ized as  a  saw  pit  by  throwing  across  it  timbers  on 
which  to  sujjport  the  \nne  logs,  which  were  then 
whip-sawed  into  boards  by  men  standing,  one  in 
the  arroyo  and  the  other  on  the  log  above.  In 
course  of  time,  when  the  streets  of  the  old  Mexican 
town  were  renamed,  the  Callc  del  Arroyo  was  called 
Pennington  Street  after  the  men  whose  rude  place 
of  business  it  was;  and  so  it  remains  to-day.  It  was 
while  hauling  lumber  to  Tucson,  in  August,  1868 
that  Jim  Pennington  finally  met  his  fate.  Camping 
by  the  road  north  of  San  Xavier,  his  oxen  were 
stolen  by  Apaches  during  the  night.  Next  morn- 
ing he  and  his  teamster  pursued  the  Indians,  but 
were  ambushed  in  the  hills  west  of  Tucson  and  Jim 
was  killed.  He  was  buried  first  at  Tucson,  after- 
ward at  the  Sopori  Ranch,  where  a  wooden  head- 
board still  marks  his  grave. 

Of  the  women — those  who  waited  anxiously  at 
home  for  the  news  of  disaster  that  they  continually 
expected — we  also  catch  occasional  glimpses. 

C.  B.  Genung  relates  that  in  April,  1864,  he 
found  the  Pennington  women,  with  two  boys  and 
little  Mary  Page,  living  in  Tubac.  Except  for 
them  the  place  seemed  to  be  abandoned  at  that  time, 
and  the  danger  from  Indians  was  great.  Every 
morning  the  two  boys,  with  guns  as  long  as  them- 


30 


The  Penningtons 


selves,  carefully  reconnoitered  each  side  of  the  path 
to  the  spring  froni  which  the  women  then  carried 
the  water  supply  for  the  day.      The  Sopori  Ranch, 


Jaxe   Pennington    (Mrs.   Wm.   Crumpton),   about    1885. 


about  ten  miles  from  Tubac,  was  also  their  abiding 
place  from  1866  to  1868.  This  was  an  extremely 
dangerous  location,  being  in  the  path  of  Apache 
war  parties  passing  to  and  from  Mexico.  The 
ranch   house   was    fortified,    with    stone    walls   sur- 


Pioneers  of  Early  Arizona  31 

rounding  it  and  with  the  walls  pierced  by  port  holes 
for  guns.  They  were  ne\'er  attacked  here  although 
the  dove  and  turkey  calls  used  by  the  Indians  as 
signals  were  sometimes  heard.  One  morning  the 
youngest  sister,  Josephine,  picketed  her  favorite 
pony  a  short  distance  below  the  Sopori  Ranch 
house,  but  she  had  not  reached  the  door  before  an 
Apache  ran  out  from  the  bushes,  jumped  on  the 
horse  and  made  off  with  him. 

Notwithstanding  the  danger,  these  brave  women 
made  the  most  of  a  hard  situation.  They  cultivated 
a  small  field  in  the  adjacent  creek  bottom,  irrigating 
it  from  a  ditch  that  flowed  close  under  the  little 
rocky  hill  on  which  their  fortress  home  was  perched. 
Under  the  walnut  trees  that  fringed  the  ditch  they 
did  their  washing,  and  many  an  hour  was  passed 
in  sewing,  which  was  all  done  by  hand. 

A  small  separate  building  was  set  aside  as  a 
schoolroom,  and  here  the  older  sister,  Ellen,  who 
had  gone  to  school  in  Texas,  taught  the  younger 
children  with  the  help  of  the  Bible  and  the  battered 
school  books  that  had  been  brought  through  the 
Pecos  years  before.  For  amusement  they  had  to 
depend  upon  themselves.  They  had  little  inter- 
course with  Americans  except  for  occasional  passers 
by,  from  whom  we  have  several  accounts  of  them 
at  this  time. 

Oftentimes,  at  the  Sopori,  at  the  close  of  day, 
when  the  men  were  due  to  return  from  a  freighting 
trip,  the  women  would  watch  and  wait  with  dread 


Pioneers  of  Early  Arizona 


33 


and  apprehension,  fearing  disaster,  until  the  crack 
of  the  long  whip  and  a  well  known  voice  encour- 
aging the  oxen,  would  finally  reassure  them. 

There  was  much  fever  in  this  region  also,  in  early 
days,  due  to  the  grass  grown  and  swampy  condition 


10 

n — III 


1  U.  Bvt   Maj.CHVaili  quarters 

2  Adjutants  quarters       3.  Cody's   kitchen 
4    Commissary  deportment     5.   Ouartermosters  stores. 
6.  Guord   house.      7  CaC  quortcrs,  I- USCovalry 

8.  CoK  quorters,  \^  US.  Ca/alry 

9.  Cook  house,  CoC     10  Cook  house.  Co  K  Wimshed) 
1 1 .  Suds  row     12.  Lt  Garrett^  quarters 
13.  Officers  quorters     14.  Sutler's  store  (Stevens  iYo-k«) 
I  5.  Old    suds  row      16    Pennington   home 

17.  &\xt^aiion  corroll       18    Quchonon  conifnissory 


Old  Fort  Crittenden. 


of  the  river  bottoms,  with  consequent  mosquitoes 
and  malaria.  A  sister,  Ann,  died  here  in  1867  and 
was  buried  in  the  Sopori  Cemetery. 

At  about  this  time,  also,  Ellen,  the  older  sister, 


Pioneers  of  Early  Arizona  35 

married  one  Barnett,  who  was  a  member  of  the  first 
Territorial  Legislature. 

Diminished  in  numbers,  the  Penningtons  drifted 
back  to  Tubac  in  1868  and  to  Fort  Crittenden  in 
1869,  probably  hoping  for  greater  security  there. 

But  in  June,  1869,  the  Apaches  again  took  heavy 
toll  of  this  devoted  family,  this  time  killing  the 
father  and  Green,  now  grown  to  manhood.  These 
two  were  at  work  in  their  field  on  the  Sonoita  about 
fourteen  miles  below  Fort  Crittenden.  The  father 
was  plowing,  with  his  rifle  slung  to  his  plow- 
handles,  while  Green  was  repairing  an  irrigating 
ditch  some  distance  away.  Just  after  the  older 
man  had  turned  back  on  his  land,  the  savages  in 
ambush  shot  him  down  from  behind.  The  boy 
might  have  escaped,  but  not  knowing  that  his  father 
was  dead,  remained  to  fight  off  the  Apaches.  He 
was  mortally  hurt,  but  finally  reached  the  ranch 
house  where  he  remained  until  rescued  by  cavalry 
from  the  fort,  to  which  the  alarm  had  been  carried 
meantime.  Green,  and  his  father's  body,  were 
brought  to  the  Fort,  where  eight  days  later  the 
young  man  died.  These  two,  father  and  son,  were 
buried  in  the  cemetery  on  top  of  a  little  hill  just 
above  the  railroad  cut  nearest  the  site  of  old  Fort 
Buchanan.  Mr.  Sidney  R.  DeLong,  then  quarter- 
master of  the  Fort,  read  the  burial  service  over 
them. 

With  the  loss  of  their  father  and  two  brothers,  the 
broken  family  now  ga\e  up  the  unequal  contest  with 


Q 

O 
< 

H 
>< 

< 


Z 

O 

in 
w 

H 


< 

Q 
>< 

OS 


z 

o 


H 


2 

o 

u 

X 


Pioneers  of  Early  Arizona  37 

adverse  fortune.  The  remaining  sisters,  with  a 
young  brother  and  little  Mary  Page,  now  put  their 
slender  belongings  together  and  came  to  Tucson. 
Here  they  made  a  last  effort  to  escape  from  this 
land  of  tragedies  and  outfitted  for  California.  At 
the  Point  of  Mountain,  twenty  miles  on  their  road, 
the  widowed  sister,  Ellen,  became  ill  of  pneumonia 
and  the  party  returned  to  Tucson,  where  Ellen  died. 
A  little  later,  brother  Jack,  who  had  gone  back  to 
Texas  some  time  before,  came  for  them,  and  they 
returned  with  him  shortly  after.  Only  one  of  the 
original  party  found  the  way  in  later  years  to  Cali- 
fornia, the  land  of  promise  for  which  they  had  set 
their  faces  years  before. 

Mrs.  Page  remained  in  Tucson,  becoming  the 
wife  of  William  F.  Scott  in  1870,  and  living  un- 
eventfully at  the  old  home  on  South  Main  Street 
until  her  death,  March  31,  191 3,  at  the  age  of  76 
years. 

This  plain  chronicle  of  pioneer  life  in  old  Arizona 
contains  little  of  romance  to  commend  it  even  to  a 
sympathetic  reader.  True,  the  story  is  ennobled  by 
the  heroism  and  unselfishness  which  appears  in  it 
from  time  to  time, — Jack,  refusing  to  leave  a 
wounded  companion  to  the  savages ;  Green,  sacri- 
ficing his  life  to  help  his  father;  the  older  sisters, 
taking  charge  of  the  motherless  family;  the  men, 
constantly  in  danger  to  secure  the  necessities  of  life 
for  those  dependent  upon  them.  But  in  the  main, 
to  those  who  lived  it,  the  life  must  have  seemed  bar- 


293404 


38  The  Penningtons 

ren  and  disappointing  at  best,  and  purely  tragic  at 
the  last  when  death  put  an  end  to  the  contest  for  so 
many  of  them. 

There  were  compensations  here  and  there ;  and  it 
is  interesting  to  learn  from  the  pioneers  themselves 
the  motives  that  led  many  of  them  to  accept  and 
even  prefer  the  hardships  and  dangers  of  the  fron- 
tier. Pennington  himself  seems  to  have  wanted 
elbow  room,  and  freedom  from  the  constraints  of 
too  close  association  with  neighbors.  Another  ex- 
presses it  by  saying  that  many  of  the  pioneers  hated 
civilization.  Some  of  them  came  to  Arizona  from 
the  South  after  the  Civil  War  in  order  to  get  as  far 
as  possible  from  the  dominion  of  the  government 
that  had  defeated  them.  One  old  miner,  referring 
to  his  youth  in  Arizona  in  the  sixties,  said:  "Oh, 
we  were  just  young  fellows  out  for  a  time."  Tom 
Gardner  said,  in  the  same  strain,  "  Well,  you  see, 
there  was  lively  minin'  then,  lively  hoss  racin'  and 
lively  fightin  ' — everything  was  lively."  Genung, 
tiring  of  the  constraints  of  San  Francisco  in  the 
days  of  the  Vigilantes,  said  that  it  was  excitement 
and  adventure  and  freedom  that  attracted  him  to 
Arizona.  Adventurousness,  therefore,  love  of  free- 
dom and  hatred  of  restraint,  were  qualities  that 
characterized  many  of  the  men.  As  to  the  women, 
there  were  but  few  American  women  in  the  country 
in  those  days,  and  these,  as  a  rule,  not  from  choice, 
it  is  safe  to  say.  Usually  they  chanced  here  through 
militarv  connections  or  some  adverse  fortune  that 


Pioneers  of  Early  Arizona  39 

diverted  them  from  the  California  road.  Without 
the  society  of  their  kind,  often  without  the  comforts 
of  life,  without  the  relief  afforded  by  active  adven- 
ture, and  often  in  danger,  they  had  no  choice  but 
to  endure. 

As  a  class  the  pioneers  were  an  essential  factor  in 
early  development.  They  constituted  an  indepen- 
dent citizen  soldiery  that  cooperated  with  the  troops 
while  the  country  was  being  reclaimed  from  the  In- 
dians. They  brought  in  military  supplies;  fur- 
nished hay  and  lumber  to  the  posts ;  and  in  many 
cases  were  more  effective  than  the  soldiers  them- 
selves in  expeditions  against  the  Apaches.  Many  of 
the  older  mines  were  located  and  worked  by  them; 
and  the  possibilities  of  agriculture  were  also  grad- 
ually shown.  All  this  pa\'ed  the  way  for  civilized 
government,  for  immigration,  and,  finally,  for  the 
development  of  mining  and  agricultural  industries. 
Too  often  the  character  of  the  pioneer  unfitted  him 
for  the  quieter  conditions  which  he  made  possible. 
Too  often,  again,  he  was  so  broken  by  a  life  of 
hardship  that  he  derived  little  benefit  from  the  re- 
sults of  his  own  labor.  Let  us,  then,  looking  back 
over  their  eventful  lives,  give  them  due  homage  for 
what  they  have  accomplished  for  us  in  meeting  the 
dangers  and  in  overcoming  the  difficulties  of  our 
last  Frontier. 


m-t*  lay-  ; »     1        '    .  ^^.     ^ 


A  13 


„     c     '^ 


!-      h—       o 


C/2 


Pioneers  of  Early  Arizona  41 


REFERENCES 

Letters  of  C.  B.  Genung,  May  31,   1913,  and  June  9,   1913. 
Court  of  Claims  of  the   L'nited   States  :   Indian   Depredations   No. 

31 12,  pp.  4-59. 
Court  of   Claims  of  the    United   States :   Indian   Depredations   No. 

3112,  pp.  60-182. 
Court  of  Claims  of  the  United  States :  Indian   Depredations  No. 

31 12,  pp.  248-332. 
Court  of  Claims  of  the   United  States :   Indian    Depredations   No. 

7363,  manuscript  copy. 
Across  America  and  Asia,  p.  13.     Pumpelly. 
The  Apache  Country,  pp.  152-155.     J.  Ross  Browne. 
New  Tracks  in  North  America,  Vol.  II,  pp.   100-102    (December 

3,  1867).     Bell. 
Diary  of  Samuel  Hughes. 
County  Records  of  Pima  County,  Arizona  : 

Land  Claims  No.  i,  p.  51. 

Land  Claims  No.  i,  p.  59. 
Letter  of  L.  E.  Barnett,  October  I,  1869. 
Mrs.  Scott's  account  of  her  capture  by  the  Apaches  ;  taken  by  her 

daughter   (Mrs.   R.   H.  Forbes). 
Copy  of   a  portion   of  Sam    Hughes'   diary,   mentioning   the    Pen- 

ningtons  in  1859. 
Narrative    of    Jane    Pennington    (Mrs.    Crumpton),    Santa    Cruz, 

Cal.,  May  18,  1916. 
Narrative  of  John  H.  Cady,  December  8,  1914. 

Pennington   notebook,   by   R.   H.   Forbes,  containing   various   nar- 
ratives and  notes  relating  to  the  Pennington  family. 
Pacific  Wagon  Roads.     House  of  Representatives  ;  35tb  Congress, 

2d  Session.     Ex.  Doc.  No.  108. 
Los   Angeles   Star    (Cameragraph),   containing    Arizona    News   in 

1861.      (Original  in   Bancroft   Library,   Berkeley,  Cal.) 
Manuscript  map  showing  overland  wagon  notes  of  travel  through 

New  Me.xico  and  Arizona. 
C.  B.  Genung's  map  and  letter,  showing  main  line  of  travel  about 

i860. 


42  The  Penningtons 

Map  (Cameragraph,  2  parts)  of  the  Military  Department  of  New 
Mexico,  1864. 

Map  (Cameragraph)  of  the  Territories  of  New  Mexico  and  Ari- 
zona ;  by  the  Office  of  the  Chief  Engineers,  U.  S.  A.,  1879. 

Map  of  Arizona  Territory  (Cameragraph)  by  authority  of  Gen. 
O.  B.  Willcox,  1879. 

Map  (Cameragraph)  of  Southwestern  New  Mexico,  by  the  Office 
of  the  Chief  of  Engineers,  U.  S.  A.,  1883. 

Official  Map  (Cameragraph)  of  the  Territory  of  Arizona,  com- 
piled by  Richard  Gird,  1865. 

Johnson's  Map  (photograph)  of  the  United  States,  in  1858,  show- 
ing the  Gadsden  Purchase  as  Arrizonia. 

Skeleton  Map  (blueprint)  of  Southern  California,  Engineer  Office, 
Military  Division  of  the  Pacific,  1874. 


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